MEDAL ITALY SILVER ORIGINAL 1908 MESSINA EARTHQUAKE 32 mm. 16,29 g (6981)

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ITALY

Silver ORIGINAL

1908 MESSINA EARTHQUAKE MEDAL

December 28, 1908 from about 5:20 to 5:21 am an earthquake of 7.2 rs occurred
centered on the city of Messina, in Sicilly.


Reggio Callabria on the Italian
mainland also suffered heavy damage.

The ground shook for some 30 to 40 seconds, and the destruction was felt within
a 300 km radius. Moments after the earthquake, a 40-foot (12 m) tsunami struck
nearby coasts causing even more devastation. 93% of structures in Messina were
destroyed and some 70,000 residents were killed. Rescuers searched through the
rubble for weeks, and whole families were still being pulled out alive days
later, but thousands remained buried there. Buildings in the area had not been
constructed for earthquake resistance, having heavy roofs and vulnerable
foundations.

Malta also suffered from an earth tremor and was then hit by a tidal wave caused
by the Messina earthquake. The King of Italy sought help from Britain and a
Field Ambulance section of RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) with two members of
the QAIMNS (Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service) and a
Stationary Hospital were transported to Messina in Sicily by the Royal Navy.
They took with them ten days supplies and rations.

Once in Sicily the RAMC and the Queen Alexandra's Sisters cared for survivors of
the Earthquake on board HMS Minerva and HMS Duncan which were set up as dressing
stations. A Stationary Hospital was set up in nearby Catona in what was a market
place on the 2 January 1909. The QAs worked with two volunteer nurses from Malta
until the 15 January 1909 when all four nurses returned to Malta. There is more
written about the Messina Sicily Earthquake 1908 in the book Queen Alexandra's
Royal Army Nursing Corps (Famous Regts. S) by Juliet Piggott..

REF 6981




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